


A Single Step

by Chibitami



Series: Requested Scenario Collection [40]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Comfort, Drunkenness, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Grief/Mourning, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:53:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25580896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chibitami/pseuds/Chibitami
Summary: Requested by anon on Tumblr: "Can I get a scenario for Zoro opens up to his s/o about Kuina?"
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro/Reader
Series: Requested Scenario Collection [40]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1577755
Kudos: 55





	A Single Step

It had all started when Zoro had been enjoying a nighttime bottle of sake with his s/o on the deck, laughing and looking up at the stars together. When Zoro turned over the bottle to find that it was empty, ____ had stumbled their way up to a standing position and headed to the kitchen to grab another one from the cellar below-deck. Zoro followed behind them, and the two of them slurred their words as they playfully nudged and shushed each other to not wake the rest of the crew. 

"Ok...Okay, you turn on th' light," Zoro said, "And I'll open the door to the booze room."

"The cellar," ____ corrected with a titter, flicking on the light to the kitchen and then moving to swat Zoro's head. "You can store stuff in a cellar that isn't booze, you know."

"Like what?"

____ blinked and racked their fuzzy memory for an example of one of the many things one can keep in a cellar. 

"You know...Stuff?"

The two of them laughed and made their way to the large wooden floor panel leading to the cold cellar underneath the kitchen. While Zoro leaned down to slide it, ____ took the opportunity to eye their boyfriend's backside with a grin while he was bent over and crouching. The panel easily moved aside, and Zoro took a step down the wooden staircase; suddenly, he felt ____ pushing up against his back as they tried to worm their way around him.

"First one down there gets to pick the sake," they declared, squirming to push past Zoro. "No more cheap shit; I'm getting the good stuff!"

Zoro tensed as they tried to maneuver on the narrow steps and groped around in the dimly-lit entrance to the cellar. Before he could snap at them to not rush down there, he saw ____ stumble on the next step and then start to fall backwards. They let out a sharp gasp that sent a cold chill down Zoro's spine; whether it was because of the sake he'd had, or from the sudden adrenaline rush as he saw ____ fall, time seemed to slow down to a crawl. _They're going to fall. They're going to fall, they're going to die if they fall, just like--_

Even if he wasn't sober, Zoro's reflexes as a swordsman were still lightning fast. He immediately grabbed ____ by the front of their shirt with one hand and jerked their body forward towards him, and then he immediately put his other arm around their back to keep them secure and close to him. His heartbeat was pounding in his ears, and he felt a thin layer of sweat forming on his forehead. The sound of his s/o's breathing and the small puffs of air against his skin helped calm him down slightly. _Still breathing. Still breathing…_ Zoro's chest rose and fell, and he held them a bit tighter in his arms. _They're still here._

____ snorted out a laugh and rested their head on Zoro's shoulder. "Whew, you saved my ass there," they giggled, their cheeks warm and the smell of sake lingering on their breath. They rocked back and forth against Zoro on the staircase while talking in a sing-song-y voice. " _I need to be more carefuuuuul_ \--"

They cut off their drunken little ditty with a small gasp as Zoro abruptly marched up the stairs while still holding them. When they were just about to ask what the hell he was doing, or where he was going, he firmly put his hands on either side of ____'s shoulders and glared at them. Now that they were no longer in the dim, barely existent light of the basement, ____ could see his features clearly; their eyes widened a bit when they saw the intense look on his face and the angry tears in his eyes. "Never, **ever** do that again," Zoro demanded. His voice was no longer relaxed and breezy the way it usually was when he was drunk, but tense and thick. ____ couldn't remember the last time he was this close to tears around them. He shook them a little bit as he held them, trying to put some sense into them and make them see how dangerous that was just now. "What if I didn't catch you? You could've broken your damn neck!" 

____ blinked up at Zoro, feeling a wave of shame wash over their chest. "It...Ok, sure, I won't," they said slowly, confused and taken aback by his extreme and emotional reaction. "Look, Zoro, I'm fine. Okay? Just calm down." They were hesitant for a second, and then spoke again. "Why are you acting like this over one stupid trip down the stairs? I mean, you're protective, but…" ____ looked up at them. "I probably woulda just fallen and twisted my ankle. It's like, five steps total! And--"

"That doesn't matter," Zoro snapped. "You can still die from a fall down a short set of stairs, and I would've...I would've…" He trailed off and looked away, relaxing his grip on their shoulders a bit before sighing through his nose. "Just...be more careful when you go down the stairs like that. Okay?"

____ furrowed their brows and gently cupped Zoro's face as they guided him to look at them again. "Hey," they murmured, their voice laced with concern. "Tell me what's wrong."

Zoro resisted a bit against their hand and refused to look at them. "Nothing," he dismissed. "I just want you to be more careful."

____ pulled him to look at them again, staring straight into his eyes. " _Zoro_ ," they insisted firmly. "What is it?"

Zoro was silent, clenching his jaw slightly as he stared back at them. He bit a part of his lower lip and wondered what he should say; he hadn't talked about what had happened to Kuina ever since...well, since it had happened. It was already painful to think about, so he'd always try to think of something else before he started to feel that weight on his chest that never seemed to leave him completely ever since he had gone to her funeral. Talking about it would probably be even more painful. 

Still, this was ____-- not just a friend, and not just one of his nakama either. He didn't want to keep anything from someone so close to him, they deserved to know the truth about his past without him closing himself off, just for the sake of his own feelings. 

He finally came back to reality and out of his own head when ____ took a step closer to put their head on his shoulder again, putting their arms around him. "I'm sorry," they said quietly, their voice a bit wobbly, just like their drunken stance as they swayed against him a bit. "I. Um, I dunno what... _this_ …is all about exactly--" They gently pressed their hands against his back. "But whatever it is, I'm sorry."

Zoro leaned against them and wrapped his arms around them. "It's not your fault," he replied, holding them close. "It's because of…" He felt the weight on his chest slowly starting to sink further and further as he remembered Kuina. "Of something that happened a long time ago, to a friend of mine."

____ was silent as they waited for Zoro to continue, not wanting to interrupt him. Zoro slowly pulled away from them and led them to the two seats near the kitchen table. Zoro sat next to ____ and crossed his arms while he leaned forward a bit. "I learned how to be a swordsman from an old man who had his own dojo," he began. "And he had a daughter named Kuina…"

The entire time Zoro told the story of his childhood friend, ____ was dead silent and their expression remained largely unchanged as he talked. When he finally explained Kuina's untimely death from her accident, the weight on Zoro's chest had made it hard for him to breathe, let alone talk. Still, he simply clenched his fists and powered through that suffocating ache, wanting to finish what he'd started now that he'd finally decided to talk about Kuina. When he'd finished explaining, he could feel the sting of his palms from where his nails had dug in and left imprints on his skin.

____ was quiet for a long time after he'd finished speaking, and when they seemed to have gotten their thoughts together, they simply scooted their chair closer to Zoro so they could rest their hand against his and squeeze it gently. "I'm...I'm so sorry," they said finally, their voice cracking a bit. "If I'd known, I wouldn't have done that."

Zoro shrugged. "There wasn't any way for you to know," he replied, his voice a bit hollow and flat. "Not unless I had decided to tell you. But I didn't want to talk about it--about her." His chest burned with shame, and he looked down at the table between them. "If I wasn't so afraid of talking about it until now, this wouldn't have happened. It's my fault, in the end."

"No, 's not your fault," ____ insisted, slurring their words a bit. They smiled a bit. "Even if I didn't know about her, it was still a jackass move for me to play around on the stairs like that while I'm drunk."

Zoro's lips had the faintest hint of a smile as he glanced back up at them. "You are pretty stupid when you're drunk," he replied. "I should've just kept that whole bottle to myself, since you're such a lightweight on top of that."

____ rolled their eyes and playfully punched Zoro's shoulder. "We all have our flaws, you know," they replied with a grin. "I may be a dumbass when I'm drunk, which is pretty often when you've got my lack of tolerance. And you're a clueless dummy who couldn't navigate his way out of a wet paper bag, even when you're stone-cold sober." 

Zoro gently hit them back as they laughed a little bit, and then there was a beat of awkward silence. After a moment, ____ took Zoro's cheek in their hand again and gently squeezed it. "Hey...Is it weird if I thank you?"

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "For...what?"

____ moved closer and warmly kissed the other side of Zoro's face. "For telling me that, even when it probably hurts like hell to talk about," they replied plainly. "And for carin’ about me so much that you'd get this upset when I almost hurt myself for such a dumb reason. And for just bein’ with me, I guess." They smiled and kissed Zoro's cheek again, enjoying the lingering scent or sake on both of their lips as their mouth landed a bit closer to his this time. “Now...if I go extra slow down to the cellar, can I _please_ be the one to pick out a bottle of sake?”

“You can pick it, but I’m gonna make sure you get down there properly,” Zoro said. He rose up from his chair and hoisted ____ over his shoulder before they could react. They let out a surprised laugh as Zoro walked to the cellar entrance and carefully escorted them down the stairs with the grace and dignity of a knight--a drunk knight, carrying an equally drunk and giggly sack of potatoes over his shoulder.


End file.
